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Sniper
Hailing from the lost country of New Zealand and raised in the unforgiving Australian outback, the Sniper is a tough and ready crack shot. The Sniper's main role on the battlefield is to pick off important enemy targets from afar using his Sniper Rifle and its ability to instantly kill a target with a headshot (with some exceptions). He is effective at long range, but weakens with proximity, where he is forced to use his Submachine Gun or his Kukri. As a result, the Sniper tends to perch on higher grounds or in hard-to-see places, where he can easily pin down enemies at chokepoints. Although he is typically known for instantaneously killing enemies at a distance, the Sniper can use the Huntsman to get closer to the enemy. Additionally, the Sydney Sleeper and the mysterious contents of Jarate allow him to take on a support role by causing enemies to take mini-crits. He is the master of long-distance 'precision elimination'. The Sniper is voiced by John Patrick Lowrie. Weapons Primary *Sniper Rifle *AWPer Hand *Huntsman *Sydney Sleeper *Bazaar Bargain *Machina *Hitman's Heatmaker *The Classic Secondary *Submachine Gun *Jarate *Razorback *Darwin's Danger Shield *Cozy Camper *Cleaner's Carbine Melee *Kukri *Frying Pan *Conscientious Objector *Freedom Staff *Bat Outta Hell *Memory Maker *Ham Shank *Saxxy *Tribalman's Shiv *Bushwacka *Shahanshah Sniper's Association The Sniper is the 8th class, second in the 'Support' category. He excels in long-distance attack. He is identified by his large, mirrored sunglasses, Australian 'Slouch' hat, vest, distinct Aussie vernacular, and team-colored shirt. The sniper's primary weapon is his high-power, bolt-action Sniper Rifle. It carries a maximum of 25 single shot cartridges, and is arguably the most powerful weapon in the game when used properly. While firing from the hip, the default rifle deals roughly 50 damage, and scales from there based on hit location and distance. Pressing the special ability key (bound to MOUSE2 by default) when using the rifle brings up the Rifle's scope, putting the Sniper in a state hereafter referred to as 'zoomed in', where vision is enhanced and strafing movement is significantly reduced. When zoomed in, the rifle casts a team colored laser wherever the rifle is pointing (which can be seen by either team), and a meter next to the center labeled "CHARGE" (or "JAR" when using the Sydney Sleeper). When it is completely full, a small '100%' and electrical-bolt icon will appear, indicating the rifle's "maximum power" has been reached. if fired at full power, the hit will deal 150 damage for a body-shot, or a devastating 450 damage for a hit registering in the vicinity of the head and neck. However, if you zoom out, (lower the rifle's scope by pressing the special ability key again) that power is reset to 0%, and will only begin to charge again when you next zoom in. The disadvantage of the zoomed in state is that while zoomed in, it almost entirely disables your peripheral view, replacing the borders of your screen with blackness, preventing you from seeing an attack coming up on either flank, an angle to the front, or if one is oblivious enough, a head on attack from a crouched enemy. This game mechanic of hyper-focus makes tunnel-vision prone Snipers a favorite target for Spies. The Sniper's secondary weapon is his SMG , or Sub-Machine Gun. It is marginally better than a pistol in that it has automatic fire and a 25 round magazine, and about the same reload speed, with a slightly faster rate of fire. The SMG, while a marginally acceptable weapon for very close range combat, is even less accurate than the default shotgun, and is rendered nearly on an enemy any further away than medium distance (to give an idea of medium range, think of it as just barely out of the range of a Pyro's flamethrower). It is interesting to note though, that the Sniper is the only class to have a machine gun (not counting the Heavy's minigun, or the beta films in which the scout was depicted to have one as well). The Sniper's melee weapon is his Kukri, a type of large Nepali knife. The blade is heavy and curved forward slightly, rather than backward. Despite being a large, heavy chopping blade, the Sniper's kukri has all default melee stats. It is generally considered his natural defense against Spies. Sniper update: His fourth weapon, the Huntsman, an extremely simple weapon consisting of a crude bow and 25 arrows, is very maneuverable and powerful. However, it lacks the zoom function of the sniper rifle. It has a 1 second 'charge' rate to reach it's full range and damage capacity, during which the MOUSE1 or the otherwise bound primary fire button must be held down (upon release the shot is fired, or if the secondary fire button is pressed, it will retract the arrow, cancelling the shot), and deals a max of 360 damage on a head-shot, thus, unlike its powerful default counterpart, will not allow it to instantly kill Over-healed heavies. He has a fifth weapon, the Jarate, which is simply a jar of yellow fluid, implied to be the sniper's urine. If used on teammates, it will extinguish them from fire. When used on enemies, it will reveal Spies and causes any hit on any affected class to register as mini-crits for 8 seconds. It will also make the Bushwacka deal critical hits on doused enemies. The sixth one is a Razorback,which seems to be a hand-carved tribal shield with a car battery attached to it. If a Spy attempts to back-stab a Sniper wearing the Razorback, the Spy will get zapped and becomes stunned for 2 seconds, and can move slowly but cannot attack for the duration. However, If a Flying Guillotine is thrown at the stunned spy via a scout, it will not be a critical hit, showing that the spy is not technically stunned. It blocks 1 back-stab per life/re-supply cabinet visit. Even with the razorback, a spy can take out a sniper with 3 shots of the revolver, 2 with the Ambassador as long as one is a head-shot, or even just one with the Enforcer while undisguised. The last is the Tribalman's Shiv, which is a Kukri with a jagged blade. It is much weaker than a Kukri, but deals 6 seconds bleeding damage that can reveal Spies and out-damages the Kukri over time. A Sniper's job is to scan the area for potential targets, and more specifically, make good use of his distance and obscurity by making few, but effective shots, and not remaining in one area for too long at a time. More importantly, as the sniper IS a support class, his role is more importantly to take out extremely valuable assets of the opposing team, i.e.: Heavies, Medics with full or high ubercharge, Soldiers using area-buffs like the Buff Banner, Concheror, and the Battalion's Backup. A single Sniper can cover a very large area, making him a very dangerous threat to be up against. While powerful as a field presence, the Sniper still needs to be extremely wary of enemies that have slipped past him and could be making their way to his hiding place to kill him, considering especially the fact that despite his high-damage output, he still has the same health as that of a scout. A Sniper also need-be aware of potential targets being able to see the enemy-colored points of light cast by the rifle's laser sight. To counteract this, a Sniper can aim at a nearby obstacle, obscuring the laser from the enemy but still being able to monitor something like an enemy doorway or the Capture Point, (keep in mind, while the presence of that ominous looking laser-point can tell your enemy "you're being watched", it can actually play a valuable mind-game on the enemy and discourage them from using a certain exit, which can give your team the tactical advantage of a well coordinated 'bottle-neck' ambush). A Spy has the best chance of taking out a Sniper, just above that of another sniper or a scout. Activating their cloaking device, a Spy and slip past a Sniper's guarded area virtually undetected to sneak up behind them and back-stab them. As mentioned, Snipers can take down each other as well, but in this case, it boils down to who is the faster, better shot, or whomever is more aware of the situation. Sniper Tactics First rule of a sniper: You stay behind, but not too far behind. You can be both the key to a successful defense or a successful offense. However, until you are good, you shouldn't be directly at the front line, and even then you will need teammates to take hits. At first you may find that the Sniper's somewhat weak close-combat ability and low health almost forces you to camp at the back, but please ignore this feeling; as you get more confident in your aim, you can attempt to get closer and closer to the front lines. In this position you will be able to take on more immediate threats to the team, give enemy spies a much harder time, and help your team much more. Second rule: Know your enemy. Nothing is more frustrating than to run around the corner, thinking you've reached the high ground to pick off those slow heavies and get gunned down by some sentry. Or to actually be sniping those heavies and a spy stabbing you in the back. Admit it, we all hate it when that happens. In short, stay alert. Dozing off will get you killed in any situation, as you have a mere 125 hp. You must know your enemy, and of course, your weaponry. First off, your trustworthy sniper rifle, a beautiful weapon with a scope to zoom in and a long barrel for that accuracy. This is the weapon you would want to wield most of the time. Your SMG (Sub-Machine Gun), although weak, stimpaks enough punch to take out injured enemies, or enemies you've hit with an uncharged headshot and need to finish off. It is also useful for scanning for spies, as hit spies will flicker, revealing their location. It can also be a last resort against scouts that get too close, although the kukri is probably a safer bet at close range. However, after a couple seconds the SMG outdamages the kuriki, making it most effective to hit a enemy first for an instant 65 damage, and then start shooting for a head-start in the damage race (so to speak). And last, your wonderful kukri. This fine piece of weaponry is -ideal- for the close combat situations, it's not stronger, nor faster than any other but it's perfect for spies attempting to sneak behind you. Or perhaps even some hyped up kid attempting to bat your head in. If crits are off, however, you're better off just going for an uncharged headshot unless you know they've been weakened. Sniping in General Sniping in general is hard, it requires skill and dedication to learn how to master those headshots. Start off by picking sniper's most favourite targets, the heavies. Get those headshots, then try to headshot little faster targets, like soldiers. And slowly move up the ranks. You must know when to shoot and when not to, where the best sniping locations are and where enemy snipers might be hiding. Do: *Check for enemy sniper dots. *Keep an eye on your back. *Mind your health, you only have 125. *Prioritize targets. Medics and heavies first, soldiers and demos second. * Bring Jarate. Jarate is good at finding hidden cloaking spies. When you bump or see a spy cloaking, throw a Jarate at them. so it will reveal wheres the spy going. Also Jarate is good for extinguishing you or your teammates from fire. *Try to take down level 3 sentries. You are the second best class at removing them without assistance from your team, and do a very good job of it. Don't go out of your way, however, and don't try and do it if your team is already there. There's nothing more frustrating than a friendly soldier running in front of you and back again, leaving you with the four sentry rockets to deal with. *Try to snipe engineers behind their sentries. See an engineer hiding behind a sentry? Just make sure the engineer's head is visible above or outside the silhouette of the sentry (even if you can see his head THROUGH the sentry, you still can't hit him as the sentry hitbox blocks it), aim a little higher than his head (head hitboxes are alarmingly big in TF2) and pull the trigger. Then simply unload one fully charged and one partially charged shot to drop the sentry. Do not: *Camp in one spot. Don't just stand on the 2fort balconies either; it's bad form. Consider that you can also snipe from in front of the bridge at ground level. You'll have one up on enemy snipers and the other classes of the enemy team will be without cover, while you can use the pillars of the bridge to block rockets. *Never trust random team members. If some random teammate pops up without clear reason, only seeming to stand there. Don't assume he's "watching your back". Hit him with the kukri once or twice. They were probably enemy spies "watching your back" for an easy back-stab. If the spy dies from 1 hit, it's probably a dead-ringer spy meaning your should continue to spy check for another 12 seconds to be safe. *Go too far forward. No matter how good your aim gets, and how skilled at dodging rockets you become, you need at least one teammate in front of you. You can still die from a couple seconds of fire from the enemy. This is not true for the Huntsman, as you can shoot down both of those projectiles while it is hard. *Use 100% charged bodyshots all the time. Despite what you may think, this isn't an effective way to play sniper. Sniper is a high-risk/reward class and requires a certain degree of skill to be good at. If you're only landing bodyshots, your damage output will be incredibly low compared to all other classes. *Rush the enemy spawn point unless it's already well under siege by your team. On your own, you will most likely die due to you lack of health and the fact that the sniper doesn not have weapons suitable for mid-range combat. Even if you have the Huntsman which is a great mid-range weapon, your chances of surviving a rush to the enemy spawn is still slim. 'General tips' *Learn how to aim and strive for headshots until you can comfortably pull them off. You will be bad at first. Once you get used to it, you will quickly become a creditworthy sniper. *Learn how much charge you need to kill each class in one hit. A fully charged bodyshot deal 150 damage, whereas a headshot of the same charge will deal 450. For headshots, demomen need ~20% charge, pyros ~40%, soldiers ~50% and heavies need ~75% to kill. 125 hp classes will die instantly unless they are overhealed. Without a headshot, you will generally need two fully charged shots to kill all but the weakest classes. *Not every target would need a headshot. If you encounter a weakened or fleeing target, don't be afraid to pick him off with an unscoped shot, your SMG, or maybe a slightly charged bodyshot. *Learn when to retreat. If you're being hammered by explosives and heavy fire, it's a good sign that you're too far forward. Fall back to cover and take out whatever was causing you problems from range. *Keep moving. Small movements left and right, moving erratically or in circles will do a world of good. You'll be harder to hit for enemy snipers, a much less desirable target for soldiers, and you'll be a harder target for spies to stab. Not only that, but if a spy is trying to sneak past, and you bump into them, you'll be able to whip out your Kukri and whack them before they can sink their knife into your back. *If fighting a moving target, mimic their movement and they'll be slower on your screen, allowing for an easier shot. *Don't stay scoped for too long. If you've missed an opportunity for a shot, suck it up and move up for a new one. Waiting around just increases your chances of being caught off-guard. *Although scouts are fast, a quick headshot will pluck them out of the air. If they've doublejumped, they can't change their momentum, so let their head fall into your crosshair and pull the trigger. If they get too close and cockily try to circlestrafe you, backpedal and strafe around them, scoping as you do this, swing your aim horizontally in their direction and fire as their head crosses the center of your screen. A tricky technique to master, but worth it for the reactions you will receive. *Know whom to stay away from. Pyros are great at setting you alight from ranges you could have sworn their flame didn't reach. If you see one coming for you either run, or if it's too late, back off and try for the headshot as you retreat. IF you manage the headshot, simply hit him with one unscoped shot to the body, a short burst of SMG, or sidestep and kukri him as he charges past. If you miss, whip out your kukri and pray for a crit, or marinate yourself with Jarate. Quotes Some of the Sniper's spoken lines in the game include: *''"Wave goodbye to yer head." '' *''"Thanks fer standin' still, wanker." '' *''"God save the Queen!" '' *''"Y'got blood on me knife, mate." '' *''"Y'best keep lying down." '' *''"Give 'em a gob-full."'' *''"This is going to be a real piece of piss, ya bloody fruitshop owners!"'' *''"Nothing personal mate. I'm just better." '' *''"That funeral's not going to be open-casket." '' *''"There ya go!" '' *''"Beauty!" '' *''"Standin' around like a bloody idiot!"'' *''"Lets have a go at it!"'' *''"Wave goodbye to your head wanker!"'' *''(By the time the jarate is thrown) "Jarate!"'' *''"Bomb's away!"'' *''"Dad, DAD! Put Mum on the phone"'' *''"Gaaaahhh, Piss"'' *''"Bombs away!"'' *(to Soldiers upon headshots) "That helmet'll make a nice bowl for your brains!" *(to Heavy upon headshots) "I just killed the world's fattest man!" *(to Spy upon kill or headshot) "Bloody Spies!" *"PISS!" ''''Trivia *The Sniper's last name is Mundy; his first name is unknown. This is from the Meet the Director comic which referred to sniper as "Mr. Mundy". *The Sniper is the second tallest class in the game. *In a fight scene in Meet The Spy, the Spy manages to cut the Sniper on the left side of his cheek, after the video was realised, the Sniper got a update to put in the scar after the video. *There are many rumors of the Sniper's old job. The most popular choice of his old job is a urinist as he has a weapon that generates urine, (The Sydney Sleeper) and a jar of what apperears to be his urine too. (Jarate) *"The Sydney Sleeper" is named after the Australian city Sydney. * According to Expiration Date, it seems the Sniper is proficient in the Tenor Saxophone. *In the Team Fortress Comics, the Sniper was born in New Zealand and raised in Australia. It also tells us that Sniper's birth name was Mun-Dee * The Sniper's SMG was originally intended to be the scout's primary weapon as seen in early posters, but was scrapped later in development. A file called tf_weapon_smg_scout in still exists in the game files.